


The Life of a Freighter

by TrulyMightyPotato



Series: Welcome to the Dark Side [1]
Category: Star Wars, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Blood, I've only ever watched the live action movies so that's all my knowledge of the universe here, Imprisonment, Violence, You Have Been Warned, and glowy things, being left for dead, lots of lightsabers, no youtube here, spoilers for force awakens, yay star wars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 08:36:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8617174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrulyMightyPotato/pseuds/TrulyMightyPotato
Summary: This was inspired by NekoPuff's recent artwork on YouTube, and I decided to write a bit of a story as to what might have led up to the point of her drawing. THIS DOES POTENTIALLY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE FORCE AWAKENS.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PurrtlePuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurrtlePuff/gifts).



> This was inspired by NekoPuff's recent artwork on YouTube, and I decided to write a bit of a story as to what might have led up to the point of her drawing. THIS DOES POTENTIALLY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE FORCE AWAKENS.

Jack swore.

Of course his ship was broken. He’d expected that after that shot had hit one of his engines. He was just glad he and his small crew had managed to set down safely. 

No, the problem here was he had no immediate way of repairing it. Considering he was a shipper by trade, that meant he had literally no way of doing what he needed to.

A soft, sad beep-woo sounded from next to Jack’s leg, and he looked down at the robot next to him. “We’re gonna be stuck here for a few days, Sam.”

“How bad is it?” Jack’s long-time friend and crewmember, Bob, asked from behind.

“We’re gonna have to completely take it apart and put it back together, replace some things and just repair others.” Jack shook his head. “We’re most definitely not going to make it on time.” Now where was he going to sell these goods? Jakku? As if he’d get nearly enough to even pay his crew, much less continue his trade.

Bob sighed. “Well, I hate to add to the bad news, but Wade’s hurt badly enough I don’t think he can help at all with repairs.”

Jack swore again. Wade had only joined the crew at the beginning of this trip, after years of Jack persistently asking him to do so, on the condition his soon-to-be bride Molly was hired on as well. Molly was sure to have Jack’s head if Wade didn’t recover right. “How’d he get hurt?”

“A panel exploded when the power surged.” Bob shook his head. “It’s easy enough to repair that, though. We’ve improvised that many times.”

“Where are we?” Jack walked back to the entrance of the faded green ship, glad for the weight of his blaster on this unknown world.

“A moon orbiting an uninhabited planet.” Bob reported. “I didn’t get a great look, but it doesn’t look like anyone lives here.”

“So much for replacing broken parts.” 

Sam beeped.

“You’re right, Sammy. We’ll just have to improvise.” Jack grinned. They’ll get through this. “Where’s Wade and Molly?” This one was directed at Bob.

“Their quarters, last I checked.”

“Make sure nothing got too badly damaged in the crash.” Jack ordered. “If we’re going to be dealing with an explosion of some kind because one of the orders of some kind is shorting out crazily, I want to know before it happens. And make sure the crate is alright.”

“Sure thing.” Bob went down the left hall, while Jack peeled off and went right to the living quarters of the crew. There were eight rooms in total, but Jack hadn’t been able to keep more than four of them at a time, himself included. Not ever since a whole system of planets had been destroyed months earlier.

“Molly?” Jack called, walking up to the open door that led to her and Wade’s quarters. 

“Come on in.” Molly said, before Jack had even gotten close enough to be able to see inside the room.

Jack complied, walking into the room. At least he didn’t have to duck like Wade did.

Speaking of Wade... the man was clearly unconscious on the bed, burns and blood covering his right arm and shoulder.

Jack grimaced. “How’s he doing?”

“I can’t treat burns this bad.” Molly shook her head. “We don’t have the equipment.” She flopped into the single chair in the room. “Most of the medical supplies we did have got ruined in the crash.”

Jack bit his lip, staring at his friend and trying hard not to look at the monstrosity of the injury. Without nearly instant medical treatment by actual professionals, Wade was sure to lose his arm, if not his life.

“We need to call for help.” Molly shook her head.

Jack frowned. “We’ll try. I don’t think anyone else is really around this area.”

Molly looked at Wade, worry clear on her face. 

“We’ll get him the help he needs.” Jack assured.

_ Beep boop beee-oooop. _ Sam agreed.

“I’ll try to find someone.” Jack said. “You do what you can for him.”

Molly nodded, turning her full attention back to Wade.

Jack left the room, cursing softly. They’d been shot down. They’d definitely been shot down, and whoever was close by was almost definitely still in the area. Looters and thieves, most likely hoping Jack and his crew would have been killed in the crash and they could take whatever they wanted from the scattered mess that was left.

Bob was standing at one of the control panels, evidently repairing whatever had exploded on Wade.

“Is he going to survive the night?” Bob asked quietly.

“I don’t think so.” The words fell out of Jack’s mouth, heavy and painful.

Bob’s shoulders slumped. “First Mark and now Wade. How many friends are we going to lose?”

“Too many.” Jack shook his head, turning his attention to the control panel in front of him. “Let me know when you’re ready to restore power. If we can find a friendly ship, we might be able to get Wade to safety.”

“That would be a miracle.”

Sam beeped and booped for a minute until Bob looked at the droid. “Do you think the force could help him? Do any of us have the force?”

“You never know,” Jack answered instead, “it’s not like every force user in the galaxy could have been killed.”

Bob shook his head, continuing to work. “That would be something.” After another minute, he nodded. “It’s ready to go.”

Jack nodded, switching power back on to the controls.

No explosions. That was always good.

And then, as he scanned the controls and readings and everything he was getting, he frowned again. “Bob? Do you hear that?” It sounded like engines. “Did you start the engines?”

The other man shook his head.

Jack swore, darting out to the entrance to the ship, only to see an enormous ship set down next to his -- black and sleek and shiny.

“I hope they’re nice.” he muttered to himself, even as their engines powered down and the boarding platform lowered. Maybe they had a bacta tank, or skilled doctors or nurses or whatever. Even if he had to trade most of his freight away, it would be worth it to keep Wade alive. He was already on the verge of considering trading the crate if it would offer a chance for Wade to survive.

No, Bob wouldn’t let him trade the crate. The crate had a buyer already. Rumors were Organa herself was the one interested, but Jack wasn’t going to investigate that too closely. 

The man that walked off the sleek ship had blue hair. That, Jack noticed instantly.

“Are you the captain of this ship?” Blue-hair asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

“Yes.” Jack let his hand rest on his blaster. He’d rather not use it, but he would if he needed to.

“Hi. I’m Ethan. Do you guys need help? I think I have enough space in my cargo hold to keep your ship there.”

Jack eyed the man suspiciously, then, not taking his eyes off him, called to Bob over his shoulder. “Hey, come here.”

Bob came surprisingly quickly, considering he had to duck under all the doorframes. 

It wasn’t Jack’s fault  _ Septic _ had 6’ doorways. Jack was short enough to go under them, so he hadn’t even considered it a problem.

“Yeah?” Bob cooly looked at the man in front of them.

“Check him out. Make sure he’s not messing with us.” Jack ordered. “Messing” wasn’t actually the word he used, though.

Bob nodded.

“Sure thing.” Ethan grinned. “I’ll show you around.”

Bob and Ethan disappeared into Ethan’s ship, and Jack whirled around. Bob hadn’t actually given him an inventory report, and he needed to know what he could trade for this help. He sure wasn’t going to be taking it for free.

As soon as Jack got to the cargo hold, he swore again. It was an absolute disaster. Containers were broken everywhere he looked. Had the straps holding them down broken? They were supposed to be good for any crash landing people survived.

Jack walked over to one of the straps, picking it up. Had it been -- 

Jack dropped the strap. It had been cut, from the looks of it. Someone had been planning this attack for a long time. Was it someone from his crew? No, it couldn’t have been. Wade and Bob knew better than to mess with the cargo hold, and Molly had never been back here alone. One of the people that he’d hired to help him load the cargo? Must have been.

Jack cursed softly. The crate. That had to be safe. If he could deliver that like he was supposed to, he would have enough money to pay off whatever costs were involved with getting Wade to safety and helping him recover.

There. There it was. 

Curses. 

A large crack ran all the way around the outside. He wasn’t supposed to look inside, he knew, but if it was broken, he was as good as stuck. And that was definitely something he wanted to know.

Sam beeped in concern. The little droid was always on Jack’s heels. Well, no, not right now, because all the debris in the room made it impossible for it to follow him. 

Jack ignored Sam for a minute. He had to get this open, make sure everything was safe like it needed to be.

There was the lock to the shipping crate. Now all he had to do was --

The lock clicked open.

Jack froze, then frowned. Was this a trick? Why would it open like that?

But he opened it anyway. 

What was in it? A weapon? Jack made a point to not deal in those, so he was going to be pretty upset if this is what it was. Treasure of some kind? Supplies?

Crystals. He was looking at a mass of crystals. Crystal of every color and size.

Kyber crystals.

Jack swore, closing the lid of the crate. That was what Organa wanted? Why did she want so many kyber crystals?

Maybe she wasn’t the one that wanted them. Maybe...no. That was impossible. The rumors couldn’t be true. Skywalker was back? He needed kyber crystals? Why?

Bob walked into the cargo hold. “His ship checks out. He’s the only person on it.”

“That’s an awfully large ship for just one person.”

“He said he inherited it.”

Jack shrugged. That was as likely as anything, honestly. “This is the only crate that survived.”

“Organa’s?”

Jack nodded.

“Alright. Ethan’s pulling out what medical supplies he has -- nothing like a bacta tank or a trained medic, but it’ll be better than what we have. We’ll have to get up in space before he can take us into his cargo hold, though, so I’m going to go stabilize the engines. We should be able to function with just three as long as the damaged one doesn’t cause another power surge.”

Jack nodded. “I’ll go tell Molly, help her get Wade stable. It’ll be best for us to move him once the  _ Septic _ is inside Ethan’s ship.”

Bob nodded, and the two went their separate ways. Again. This was why it was so hard to run a ship with just the two of them.

Molly was curled up next to Wade on the bed, his injured arm covered with a blanket that was starting to look a little bloody.

“We’ve got help.” Jack said. “We’re gonna have to start up the ship to move a bit, and then we’ll make sure Wade gets as much help as he can get.”

Molly didn’t look up from Wade’s face. “Alright.”

“How’s he doing?”

“He’s breathing, for now, but the best I could do to treat him was to drug him. Hopefully he can’t feel any of the pain.”

Jack grimaced. “He’ll be fine.”

Molly sighed. “I hope so.”

The familiar sound of engines being turned on reached Jack’s ears, twice. So both ships were getting ready to go. 

“I’m gonna help Bob. We’ll be in the cockpit if you need either of us.”

Molly nodded.

\------

Ethan was a kind host, offering to drop them off at whatever planet they needed to make repairs to Jack’s freighter.

“What’s closest?” Jack asked, vividly aware of Wade slowly dying in the other room.

“Closest with developed medical facilities is probably...oh, I don’t know. I’ll look at a map.” Ethan shrugged. “Has your crewman woken up yet?”

Jack shook his head. “Not as far as I’m aware.”

“I really hope he does.” Ethan paused, quietly working to pull up a map. “I noticed your freighter looks like it has space for a personal ship inside it, but if you had one, I’m sure you would already have your injured crewman out of here.”

Jack slumped in his chair. “It has the space, but none of us own one.” Mark. It had been Mark’s ship there. Whenever they were trading in a new area, Mark would take out his ship and explore. He would always joke that maybe he would find Skywalker and be regarded as the hero of the era.

Instead, Jack had watched as Mark’s ship approached  _ Septic, _ as normal, so the black-haired man could rejoin Jack and Bob for the journey between planets, with sparks flying across one of his wings. Jack had been powerless to do anything but watch as Mark’s ship exploded, leaving lifeless debris drifting silently.

Breaking that news had been difficult. Jack hadn’t heard from Wade for almost two and a half years at that point, until Wade had contacted Jack just a few months earlier to forgive him and introduce Molly.

“Well, I’m hoping you’ll manage to repair your ship by selling whatever you have in your cargo hold.” Ethan said cheerfully. 

Bob poked his head in the room. “Jack -- Molly thinks Wade’s waking up.”

Jack stood so fast his borrowed chair nearly spun off the floor and darted over to Bob. “I’m ready to see him if she’s ready to let me.”

“I don’t think she would have told you anything otherwise.” Bob grinned.

Finally. Things were looking up.

By the time Jack got to Wade and Molly’s room on  _ Septic _ , he could hear Molly speaking softly. 

And then Wade answered. His voice was unusually quiet, as if he was disoriented and unsure what was going on.

"It’ll be fine.” Molly was saying as Jack entered the room. “We’ll get it done.”

Wade’s eyes flicked to Jack.

Molly turned. “He’s not doing great, but he’s aware enough that we’ve been able to have a conversation.” She turned back to Wade. “We’re still getting married, even if it is delayed because of your arm.”

Wade’s eyes moved back to Molly. “It’s going to really delay our plans.”

“I don’t think so. Not by that much.” Molly’s voice was soothing.

“I hate to break the mood, but I have to ask Wade what happened when we got shot. Bob was in the back and didn’t see anything.”

Wade closed his eyes for a minute, as if he was either losing consciousness again or trying to concentrate. Or both. It could have been both.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t see anyone around.” Wade answered slowly. “The engines were working fine. Everything was working how it was supposed to. I’d made sure of that, in case we got stopped by an inspector of some kind.” He opened his eyes again, and Jack got the uncomfortable feeling Wade was about to drift back into unconsciousness. 

“Thanks. Get some rest.”

Wade’s eyes were already drifting closed by himself.

Molly looked at Jack. “I’ll stay with him, if you don’t need me.”

“Of course.”

The ship lurched, sending Jack into the hard surface of the wall. Instantly, pain shot through his skull.

“What was that?” Bob’s voice exclaimed from behind them.

Jack pushed himself into an upright position, very suddenly aware how unsteady the world seemed to be around him.

Then his knees gave out, and he realized he’d been caught. 

“Jack!” Bob sounded really close now. Then Bob swore. “Jack, you’re bleeding.”

Someone walked into view behind Bob -- it wasn’t Ethan, though. It was someone dressed from head to toe in black, a black hood obscuring most of their face. 

A loud  _ bzzzzouuuu _ filled the air, and a beam of pure red light emerged from the figure’s hand. At least, Jack hoped it was a beam, especially as it grew brighter and brighter and all he could see was red.

“jack”

Bob’s voice sounded so very far away.

So very, very far away.

\-----

The boarders were gone. The First Order. 

Ethan shuddered, crawling out from under his bed. Nobody had seemed to notice him there, even when someone had come into the room. And looked at him.

Oh boy was he glad he'd been training with Skywalker for the past little while.

What had happened to Jack and the others? Were they okay?

Ethan rolled to his feet. He needed to search the ship.

It took a full two hours before Ethan finally entered Jack’s ship, with no sign of anyone else yet.

He stopped when he got to a hallway, probably the one that contained the bedrooms. Blood was smeared on the walls and pooled on the floor.

Nope. Nope nope nope.

It took every drop of will Ethan had, but he crept forward down the hall, peeking into each room as he came to the door. 

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

A bunch of blood, and a discarded First Order weapon. Someone had died here. Hopefully one of the First Order and not one of Ethan’s new friends.

Empty.

Then the room that clearly had the most blood in it. 

Molly was sprawled in the corner, blood soaking her leg. No sign of anyone else.

“Molly!” Ethan ran to her. Did she have a pulse? Was she still alive.

There. Barely, but it was there.

Ethan slid his arms under her, grunting as he dragged her out of the corner. He couldn’t lift adults. 

Throwing a spare shirt on her leg to keep the blood loss from killing her, Ethan left her in the room he had dedicated to medical treatment and stuff. Then he went about searching the rest of the two ships.

Nothing. No bodies.

Just Molly and the wreck of freight in Jack’s cargo hold. 

Ethan turned his attention to getting out of the area. He couldn’t do anything for the others. The First Order had them now.

But maybe he could get to D’Qar in time to keep Molly alive.

\-----

Jack’s head hurt.

In fact, most of him hurt.

That wasn’t the most alarming thing, though. The single most alarming thing was the figure dressed all in black standing in front of him. Well, no, not entirely. Their hands weren’t covered with gloves or anything.

“What do you want.” Jack struggled against restraints he hadn’t known were on him.

The figure didn’t answer.

Jack just struggled harder. 

“Where are the crystals?” The figure’s voice was familiar.

Jack looked up from the restraints holding him in horror, letting his gaze land on the figure.

“Mark?”

Mark was dead, though. His ship had exploded.

But no. Mark’s all-too-familiar laugh began, the figure’s shoulders shaking, and his hood flopped backwards to reveal a shock of red hair.

“Why, hello Jack.” Mark smirked, a none-too-friendly expression. “I wasn’t aware you were working for the Resistance.”

“I’m not.” Jack blinked in confusion. “I’m just running freight.”

“You’re carrying freight for the resistance.” Mark raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t even know anyone in the resistance.” Jack frowned. “It’s bad for business to take sides.”

Mark made a dismissive gesture, revealing the lightsaber hanging from his hip somehow. “I know your rules. I worked with you for years, remember.”

“How did you survive? Your ship exploded. Bob and I searched the debris.”

“I wasn’t on my ship.” Mark rolled his eyes. “I would have thought that was obvious. You know, since otherwise I would be dead.” His voice had taken on an unmistakably mocking tone.

“I don’t understand.” Jack shook his head. “What’s going on?”

Mark shook his head. “Jack, oh Jack.” He took a few steps in what could only be described as a dramatic pacing. “Did you ever stop to think what power feels like? What power you gain from being in control?”

“No? You know that’s not like me, Mark.” Jack tilted his head. “It’s not like you, either.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Mark came to a full stop, spinning to face Jack dramatically. “It is like me.” He grinned. “Power is amazing, Jack. You should try it, actually try it. none of this loser ‘captain of a freighter’ stuff.”

Captain of a freighter.

His crew.

“Where’s my crew.” Jack demanded. “What did you do to them?”

“Me? Wade was dying.” Mark’s eyes flashed. “How is that being a good friend? Bob was so scared about you that he cooperated without question.” He shook his head. “The woman, whoever she is, didn’t like us trying to take you, though, so we left her. I’m sure she’ll survive.” Mark shrugged.

Ethan. Ethan was alive, then.

“Where’s Wade and Bob?”

“Wade’s being treated. They’ve got to replace his arm, but I’m sure he’ll survive. He’s tough. We’re trying to figure out if Bob knows what happened to the crystals.”

“I don't even know what you're talking about.” Jack swore softly. 

“A special order container.”

“I don't look in special order containers. You of all people know that.”

Mark shrugged. “Guess we'll have to do this the hard way, then.”

\-----

Ethan practically crash landed on D’Qar, barely allowing for clearances to do so.

Once the other members of the Resistance found out Molly was injured, they forgave him, and then had him report on what had happened.

Thankfully, the container of kyber crystals had been safe, though it took Ethan a good twenty minutes of moving around freight wreckage for him to find it.

What was most surprising, though, was hearing that Molly could use the force. And that she was probably pretty good at it, if you could judge that sort of thing.

How people found that out, Ethan didn't know. Molly was extremely quiet after she woke up and got told Wade and Jack and Bob had been taken by the First Order.

It took two weeks for Ethan to learn why.

“It must be simply tragic.” The ever-identifiable C3PO declared loudly. “To lose someone to the First Order like that.”

Organa glanced at C3PO, as if reminding the droid that she had too experienced that feeling. “There's no guarantee he's dead.”

“Where is Molly, anyway?” Ethan asked, even as Organa left to do some thing she had to do. “I haven’t seen her recently.”

"She’s been spending a lot of time writing in that journal of hers.” C3PO replied. “I imagine it’s quite therapeutic. Though why she’s using paper and not something digital is beyond me.”

“What makes us so sure Wade died, by the way? I never caught that.”

“We’re not, but it’s been so long he has either died or been turned to the loyalty of the First Order.” C3PO shook his head. “I’m not sure which is worse.”

“They could just be holding him prisoner.” Ethan pointed out.

“He’s not important enough for that.” C3PO sighed. “I’m afraid he’s most likely dead.”

“Then why did they take him in the first place?” Ethan demanded. “Why did they take any of them?”

\-----

Mark was standing in front of Jack again.

“What do you want now?” Maybe, if Jack could figure out what was really fueling Mark’s allegiance to ‘the dark side,’ he could bring him back. Maybe he could get his friend back.

“You said you didn’t know anything about the crystals.” Mark leaned against the wall of Jack’s small holding cell.

“I don’t.”

“Then how does Wade know?”

A jolt of fear ran through Jack. What had they done to Wade to make him say anything at all? How did Wade know there were crystals in the first place?

“He doesn’t.”

Mark scoffed. “Please, Jack, don’t lie to me. For old times’ sake.”

“For old times? You mean when I recognized the man standing in front of me?” Jack glared at Mark. “What did they do to you? Why are you doing this?”

“They didn’t do anything to me.” Mark laughed. “I chose this. I told you. Power is absolutely amazing.”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t believe ya.”

Mark shrugged. “That’s none of my concern.” His arms dropped out of being crossed. “I came here to give you one last chance. Join me, join the dark side, and embrace the power it gives.”

“I can’t do that.” Jack swore. “I don’t have the force or whatever it is you people say.”

Mark raised his eyebrows. “Yes, you do, Jack. Just because you don’t have training doesn’t mean it’s not there for your taking.”

Jack scowled. “No. I won’t do that.”

Mark sighed. “Alright then.” He bowed to Jack. “Then I’m afraid I have to kill you.” When he stood, his lightsaber was in his hand.

“What? Why?”

“Orders.” Mark’s lightsaber jumped to life, the humming of the weapon seeming to relish in the prospect of going through Jack.

The door behind Mark opened, and Mark turned, clearly exasperated. “What?”

“The other one agreed.” Jack couldn’t see who was speaking.

Mark’s lightsaber went dark. “Very well.” He glanced at Jack, then swung back around to face whoever he was speaking to. “Take him and Bob and drop them off on Jakku. They can experience the realization they would have lived if they just would have done like Wade.” Mark pushed past whoever was at the door.

Wade...Wade had agreed to join Mark? What? Why would he?

Molly. Wade wanted to get to Molly. He wanted to survive to find Molly. That had to be it.

But then he was being dragged away from his cell, and he didn’t get any more opportunities to think about Wade’s motives. Just a sinking realization he was never going to see Wiishu again, and that he couldn’t save his friends.

\-----

Ethan was woken from his nap by a flurry of activity all around him on the base.

“What’s going on?” he demanded from the first person he came across.

“There’s a stolen ship nearby -- not one of ours, but from the First Order.”

“What? Who would steal a ship from the First Order?”

“He claims to be ‘Wade Barnes’.”

Ethan blinked, then took off towards Molly’s usual haunting grounds. She had to learn Wade wasn’t dead.

“You’re wearing a lightsaber.” were the first words out of Molly’s mouth as he slid into the room where she was.

Ethan glanced down at himself. “Oh, yeah, I made it last week.”

“Interesting.” Molly went as if to continue writing in the journal she was carrying everywhere.

“Wade’s alive.” 

Molly froze, then slowly closed the journal. “What?”

“He stole a ship from the First Order.” Ethan explained. “They’re hot on his tail, but he’s managing to evade them so far.”

Molly stood, placing her journal aside. “Is he coming here?”

Ethan nodded. “He says it’s the closest world with people on it.”

Molly smiled for the first time Ethan had ever seen. “Take me to where he’ll be landing.”

“It’ll be a fight.” Ethan warned.

“I don’t care.” Molly shook her head. “I have to see him and make sure he’s okay.”

“Fair enough.” Ethan turned. “Come on, then.”

He and Molly raced down the halls, narrowly avoiding crashing into other people as they went about their jobs and business, and out onto the landing area just in time to see a damaged ship set down. Seconds later, Wade was staggering out of said ship.

Molly completely ignored all possible protocols and shoved through the crowd and threw her arms around him.

Wade hugged her tightly back, and Ethan couldn’t help but notice that Wade’s arm, the one that had been so badly burned before, was now definitely not flesh-and-bone.

That was when the first of the chasing ships fired at the base.

Chaos took over so quickly Ethan didn’t know what was happening. People scattered, and he was separated from Wade and Molly. It got even worse as ships began landing.

At least none of them looked like they belonged to Kylo Ren. That was something.

But one of them did look very dramatic -- someone important had come to deal with the Resistance base.

And when the figure dressed in black pulled out a red lightsaber, Ethan somehow wasn’t surprised. Of course there were sith. Of course. What else would there be that could make the situation worse?

\-----

Jakku was hot. Jakku was very hot, and dry, and Jack and Bob had been left without water or supplies.

“I’m sorry.” Jack murmured to Bob. “This is my fault.”

“How is it your fault that Mark went crazy?” Bob shook his head. 

“You aren’t going to get back to Mandy.”

Bob sighed. “Don’t give up hope yet, Jack. We still might find someone willing to let us work our way back home.”

“If we get back home, I’m never leaving the planet again.” Jack shuddered. “It’s too risky.”

“And who knows.” Bob grinned optimistically. “Wade might even be trying to help us from the inside.”

Jack grinned, feeling his normal positivity return. “Of course he is. He’s not one to be swayed by power.” With that, he began walking.

\-----

Wade had lightsabers.

That was something Ethan noticed very soon after the battle started, once he’d run into Wade and Molly again. And while it wasn’t surprising that Wade could use the force, it was surprising that he would carry lightsabers. Especially two of them. Dual wielders were almost unheard of anymore.

And they looked very different from each other. 

“What’s going on?” Ethan demanded. “Why do you have lightsabers?”

“Why does anyone have them?” Wade shot back.

A decided chill ran down Ethan’s back. “What? Why are you inside? Where are you going?”

Wade and Molly looked at each other, and Molly sighed. “We knew it’d end eventually.”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be this fast.” Wade grumbled before cursing under his breath.

Ethan slid his own lightsaber into hand. “What are you doing? You can’t keep going down this hall.” The hall had the base shield generators at the end of it, he knew that much. And that was not somewhere they needed to be.

Wade shrugged, pulling the two lightsabers into his hands.

Ethan clicked his on. “Wade, what did they make you do?”

Wade tossed the second lightsaber over his shoulder to Molly, even as his own sprung to life.

Red. Wade had a red lightsaber.

Molly darted down the hall, towards the shield generators, her lightsaber blade such a bright red it looked pink, even as Wade attacked Ethan.

Almost instantly, Ethan realized Wade couldn’t have just become evil. He was very, very skilled with his lightsaber. 

Very skilled.

Ethan was barely blocking and dodging Wade’s attacks, and he was most definitely being forced down the hall and away from whatever Molly was doing to the shield generators.

And then everything shuddered. A moment of drawn out silence, where Wade and Ethan’s lightsabers once again collided, and then screams rang out from around the base.

The shields were down.

Ethan did the smart thing and ran.

It was dark outside now. Sure, the bright flashes of blaster bolts and the sharp crackle of electricity provided some light, but it did only enough to reveal the slaughter that was happening.

A red lightsaber flashed in the peripheral of Ethan’s vision, and he whirled sideways. Was this Wade?

No, it was the figure.

Maybe Ethan had stared for a fraction of a second too long, or maybe the figure had been looking for him, but either way, Ethan screamed a little as the sith darted over to Ethan.

Ethan was barely able to activate his own lightsaber and block the blow that would have killed him.

“You’re not trained enough yet.” The figure laughed, pressing the attack harder, forcing Ethan back with every step.

The figure’s hood came off, revealing a shock of red hair.

Ethan wasn’t sure how he managed to defend himself in the fight, only that he wasn’t dead. It was a fast fight, but he was tired from both being up all day already and fighting Wade only minutes before. 

And then one particularly powerful impact with the lightsabers, where it looked like the man facing him wasn’t touching the ground due to the force of the swing.

“You can feel the power, can't you?” The man grinned in what could only be described as an evil manner. “Come join the dark side.”


End file.
